1982 - Dad buys an Atari VCS (before it was called the 2600)
       First games were COMBAT and PAC-MAN
       The addiction starts here!


1982 - Playing with C64s & other old machines that I can't remember the models of.
       Things like Atari paddle joysticks, monochrome green displays, and ROM cartridges fill my brain.


1982 - Dad buys an IBM PCjr
       Original Specifications:
          Intel 8088 CPU @ 4.77 MHz
          128KB RAM
          24KB ROM (IBM BASIC was in there!)
          5.25" 360K floppy drive
          2 ROM cartridge slots
          63-key wireless keyboard (IR)
          Optical mouse w/mouse pad
          CGA graphics (4 colors!)
          3 voice, mono sound
          40 columns of text display
          RF Modulator (to display on TV screen)
          PC-DOS 2.10

       Upgrades, in no particular order:
          Parallel printer adapter (also had a switch on it to enable 80 columns of text)
          300 baud modem
          Speech attachment (primitive sound card type device)
          Racore Drive II (gave an extra 5.25" 360K floppy drive)
          Upgrade to 640KB RAM
          IBM Color Display (the PCjr's monitor)
          16 color modes
          2 Kraft joysticks
          Several ROM cartridges & tons of software on floppies
          Epson 9-pin dot matrix printer

       With 128KB RAM this thing was already twice as good as those Commodore 64's everyone else had.
       I believe the going rate for one of these was about $1300 without a monitor.
       I don't even want to know what all the upgrades totaled up to.
       This system served me well until about 1989 or so when the "power unit" died.
       To the best of my knowledge, I still have ALL parts to this computer stored in a box.


1987 - Dad brings home a Compaq Portable (aka luggable) from his office
       This giant all-in-one unit had dual 5.25" (full height!) drives mounted vertically, a green
       monochrome screen (about 6" or 8" diagonal), and a keyboard that covers them up for transport.
       I was about 10 years old, and this thing was nearly as big as me and I could barely lift it.  We
       set it up on a card table, and played with it for a few months or so until he took it back to work.
       I really don't know what was inside this thing as far as CPU, RAM, etc.
       More on this work of art


1988 - Dad gets a new computer for his office at work, it's awesome!
       Specs as far as I know:
          IBM PS/2 Model 30-286
          Intel 286 CPU @ 10 MHz
          2MB RAM (Standard 1MB, this one was upgraded to double memory)
          VGA graphics (256K I think)
          Retail price for this machine was over $3000
          The memory upgrade was about $1350

       He also had an HP plotter at his office, it had 6 pens, used letter sized paper, and had some buttons
       on the panel for manual control which I used to move it around to make horrible freeform drawings of my own.


1989 - Dad gets a laptop computer at work that he can use to work at home too.
       I don't remember at all what was in this, but it was a unique machine!
       It was actually quite small (for 1989) and weighed only about 10-20 lbs., but it had no battery only AC.
       The screen was a clam-shell type, but the hinge was only 1/2 way back because the screen was SO SMALL!
       Not only was it small (320x120 pixels I think), but it was LCD.  No, not LCD like today's stuff, but
       the on/off LCD like that on a wrist watch arranged in a matrix of squares.
       I didn't really do much with this computer except play Test Drive and at some point lock the thing up!


1990 - Dad gets a new laptop, this one much better.  It has a monochrome blue/white back lit LCD panel.
       All I can remember about this is that it was a 286, had a hard drive, suspend mode, and a battery.


1990 - Dad buys a Compaq Deskpro 386/20e
       Original Specifications:
          Intel 386DX-25 CPU @ 20MHz (why??)
          4MB RAM
          3.5" 1.44MB floppy drive
          40MB IDE hard drive (Compaq branded Connor, used ARLL technology!)
          101-key keyboard
          VGA graphics w/256KB video memory
          Compaq 14" monitor (640x480 max resolution)
          Compaq branded DOS 3.0

       Upgrades, in order as best I can remember:
          5.25" 1.2MB floppy drive
          2400 baud modem
          Kraft joystick
          Windows 3.0
          Compaq branded DOS 3.30
          MS-DOS 5.0
          Windows 3.1
          Conner 170MB hard drive (only got 150MB due to Compaq drive types -- 40MB moved to D:)
          HP Deskjet 550C (the dot matrix was getting old, and this one did color)
          Creative Labs Sound Blaster Pro
          MS-DOS 6.0
          External SCSI NEC CD-ROM (before they had "speeds", came with 8-bit SCSI card)
          MS-DOS 6.2
          MS-DOS 6.22
          Windows for Workgroups 3.11
          28.8Kbps Zoom v.FC fax/modem (1994)
          Microsoft Natural Keyboard (1994)
          WD Caviar 212MB hard drive (Replaced the 40MB) (1995)
          Intel 387DX math co-processor (1995)

       A 386 w/4MB RAM in 1990...this was some hot stuff!  I think it had a retail price of like $3900 w/o monitor.
       My dad knew someone that worked for Compaq, he got it for about $1800 with the monitor.
       Other scary prices: 170MB HD about $300, Printer $500, SBPro $200 (employee discount), CD-ROM package almost $600,
       28.8 modem was $99 direct from Zoom as a special BBS SysOp deal, MS Keyboard was $89.99, 212MB HD $100, 387DX $50

       I really put this system through hell as it was one of the machines I used the most and tried the most crazy stuff with.
       This system continued to function completely until I decommissioned it in 1997.  Some of the parts sold on eBay!
       I still have the case with power supply, motherboard, cpu, co-processor, integrated ram & video, both floppy drives, the
       monitor, and more.  I'll sell these items at garage-sale prices if you are interested!


1992 - Dad brings home yet another laptop from work, this one is either a Compaq LTE Lite or LTE 386s/20.
       I can't remember which one, they both seem familiar.  It was a 386, monochrome screen, much smaller
       than any previous machine yet still over 10 lbs. I think.  It had a modem, hard drive, and even ran Windows 3.1.


1994 - Dad brings home something worthy of the "notebook" classification.  It's a super-fast Zenith Z-Note 425Lnc!
    .  Check out these specs:
          Intel 486DX-25 CPU
          12MB RAM
          200MB IDE hard drive
          8.4" Active Matrix Color LCD, 640x480
          3.5" 1.44MB floppy drive
          14.4 fax modem built in!
          10Base-T Network Support built in!

       Because this thing was faster than my 386, I began to use it more while the 386 ran my BBS.  This thing had so much RAM
       that one day I made a 7MB RAMdisk and installed windows to it to see how fast it would run...it loaded in 3.3 seconds!!!


1995 - Well it was time for me to go off to college, and any self-respecting (or not) Computer Science major had to have a
       top-of-the-line machine!  So I begged my parents to buy me such a beast and here is what I got for about $3000.00:
          Intel Pentium 120MHz CPU
          16MB RAM
          1.2GB EIDE hard drive
          ATI Mach64 PCI w/2MB VRAM
          4x ATAPI CD-ROM
          3.5" 1.44MB Floppy
          101-key keyboard
          Serial mouse
          11 bay super-fat super-heavy super-sturdy mid-tower case
          17" Monitor
          DOS 6.22
          WFW 3.11

       Upgrades, in order as best I can remember:
          28.8Kbps modem (Zoom from 386, put the 2400 back in there)
          Sound Blaster Pro (Also from 386)
          Microsoft Natural KB (Again, from 386)
          I was using the old Epson 9-pin dot matrix for a little while, upgraded to HP DeskJet 660C
          OS/2 Warp 3.0 (Unsuccessful upgrade, it didn't support my CD-ROM drive)
          32MB RAM by adding a pair of 8MB SIMMS
          48MB RAM by selling two 8MB and getting two 16MB SIMMS
          New monitor, next year's model w/fresh warranty free of charge due to factory recall.
          SyQuest EZ135 removable storage drive (internal IDE model, and lots of carts)
          MediaWave/32 sound card, it was an OPTI chipset and had a couple features the SBPro didn't
          64MB 60ns EDO RAM by selling two 8MB and two 16MB and getting four EDO 16MB SIMMS
          10Base-2 ISA ethernet card (Used coax with BNC!)
          Windows NT 3.51 Server
          Slackware Linux on an EZ135 cartridge
          555MB IDE hard drive as D: (it was an old 560MB drive with 5MB of bad sectors)
          ISA FM Radio Tuner
          Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
          3com Etherlink III ISA 10Base-T ethernet adapter
          3com Cable Modem (first model they made, just called "Cable Modem"), beta tested service of 1.5M/128K in 1997

       This was a really a nice machine, it could run all software available at the time with ease!  It came with a coupon for
       a free Windows 95 Upgrade CD.  I got it but I never installed it because I knew how bad it was.  Eventually most of this
       computer became my parents' when I got my next machine...


1998 - My parents were complaining about how slow the 386 was, and it couldn't run a lot of the new software that was coming out.
       So I found a great deal on a new top-of-the-line (again) computer for myself, and I told my parents if they got it for me
       I would give them my P120 in return, what a deal!  So here's what I got for about $2800.00:
          Intel Pentium II 300MHz CPU
          128MB SDRAM DIMM  (2 x 64MB)
          Maxtor 8.4GB IDE hard drive
          Matrox Millennium II 4MB AGP
          24x ATAPI CD-ROM
          Realtek 10Base-T PCI NIC
          Ensoniq AudioPCI
          56K X2 modem
          3.5" Floppy
          PS/2 Mouse
          ATX Mid-tower case w/230W PSU
          Windows NT 4.0 Workstation

       This was the last "complete system" I ever purchased, after that it was nothing but upgrade upgrade upgrade upgrade upgrade.


       Upgrades, in order as best I can remember:
1998 -    10Base-T Ethernet Hub
          HP Deskjet 720C
          Maxtor 2GB U33 IDE hard drive  (put win98 on it for dual-booting for games)
          Hi-Val 2x2x6 IDE CD-RW Drive  (It was actually a Philips 3610 in disguise as low end brand for about 1/3 the cost)
          Visioneer 3000 flatbed scanner
1999 -    New case & power supply
          Voodoo 1 add-on 3D accelerator
          Maxtor 10GB U33 ID hard drive (Sold the 2GB, replaced it with this)
          *ZAP* fried motherboard & power supply (Electric company's fault, NOT lightning)
          250W power supply
          FIC Slot 1 P-II motherboard, also supported 100MHz FSB
          720VA UPS to protect everything and make up for lousy electric service
          256 MB PC100 SDRAM (2 x 128MB, replaced the 2 x 64MB)
          Viper V770 Ultra
          Sound Blaster PCI512
          Some front speakers (moved old ones to rear, 4 channel sound!)
          Visioneer 6100B flatbed scanner
          ISA Parallel port card (So I could print & scan at the same time)
2000 -    Celeron 366 & a nice HSF on a slot 1 converter, this would over clock to 572, I ran it at 550 for stability -- standard voltage.
          Imation 4x4x20 IDE CD-RW Drive
          Shuttle 50X CD-ROM Drive
          Maxtor 20GB U66 IDE hard drive  (Sold the 8.4GB, replaced it with this)
          3Com 3c905B-TX PCI NIC
          ABIT BP6 Dual S370 motherboard
          2 x Celeron 366+HSF, overclock to 583, usually run them at 550MHz
          120V AC, 6" fan from Wal-Mart (extra air flow for the very overclocked dual celery rig)
          Custom made 2-circuit, 8-outlet power distribution box (needed more outlets!!!)
          D-Link 8 port 10/100 ethernet switch
          Linksys router/firewall/NAT/4 port switch
          Viewsonic E790 19" Monitor
          BP6 EC-10 Capacitor Replacement Modification (to fix Vtt voltage fluctuation which cause a LOT of lockups)
          Windows 2000 Professional
          New rear speakers (shielded even!)
          1GB PC133 SDRAM  (Actually I could only use 768MB in my BP6, but I got an extra because the price was good and I'd use it later)
          WD 20 GB 7200rpm U100 IDE hard drive (Sold the 10GB, replaced it with this)
          HP Deskjet 990Cse  (To replace the 720C)
          Canon PowerShot S100 Digital Camera
          SanDisk USB CompactFlash drive
          ATI Radeon 64MB DDR VIVO
2001 -    MS Internet Keyboard Pro (The MNK from 1994 finally died from a cat-knocked-over-the-drink event)
          *ZAP* fried power supply (This one just blew up on me...computer was OFF and I was standing next to it, that was scary)
          New 250W power supply (go warranty!)
          Antec SX-1030 Case w/300W PSU & extra fans  (I LOVE THIS CASE!)
          10X DVD-ROM
          ABIT VP6 Dual S370 motherboard
          2 x 1GHz Pentium 3 CPUs
          2 x GlobalWin CAK38 HSFs for the CPUs (These ROCK, keep the CPUs at only 10 degrees F above ambient!)
          2 x WD 30GB 7200rpm U100 IDE hard drives, RAID 0
          Windows XP Professional
          Lite-On 24x10x40 CD-RW Drive
2002 -    Soud Blaster Audigy
          Yamaha TSS-1B home theater sound system (DD 5.1, DTS, all that good stuff)
2003 -    Rounded IDE & Floppy cables (Only a couple bucks each for better airflow and they even glow in the dark...woo)
          2 x WD 80GB 7200rpm 8MB Cache U100 IDE hard drives, RAID 1 (moved RAID 0 contents to RAID 1, removed 20GB drive, RAID 0 now used for fast temp space)
          Linksys Wireless-B router/firewall/NAT/4 port switch/802.11b
          MediaStor 52x24x52 CD-RW Drive ($9.99 after rebate!)
          More Rounded IDE cables (Now I have 4 different colors so I can tell all my IDE channels apart at the devices)
          3ware 7006-2 IDE RAID Controller (Much nicer than onboard RAID, moved the RAID 1 over to this)
2004 -    Linksys 802.11b wireless bridge
          4x4x12 DVD+RW Drive
          MSI PT880 Motherboard (Replaces VP6)
          P4.3.2GHz w/HT & 800MHz FSB (Replaces dual P3's)
          2 x 512MB DDR400 SDRAM (Replaces 1GB PC133)
          ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Replaces Radeon 64MB DDR VIVO)
          500W power supply (Replaces 300W)
          550W power supply w/built in 4 outlet surge (500W died, warranty replacement)